Nicole follows in family footsteps to become nurse

Nicole Ngwenya is looking to broaden her knowledge and clinical skills

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A TYNESIDE healthcare assistant is celebrating becoming a qualified nurse – following in her family’s footsteps.

Nicole Ngwenya began working for Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust in 2005 after completing an NVQ in Health and Social Care at Gateshead College.

After seeing a healthcare assistant role advertised at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital through the college, Nicole applied.

Since then she has completed an NVQ Level 3 in Health and Social Care and numeracy and literacy level one and two qualifications through the trust’s work based learning department.

Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nicole arrived in the UK in 2001, aged 16 with her mum and two sisters.

Her mum Martha worked as a nurse at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, before returning to South Africa and her older sister Claire now works as a nurse in London, with younger sister Jenny training to be a radiographer in Manchester.

Nicole said: “I moved to the North East in 2004 to begin my course at Gateshead College.

“Towards the end of my NVQ Level 3 I was made aware of a secondment opportunity to do nurse training. I applied and got the post on condition that I passed my NVQ.

“I began my degree in March 2008 at Northumbria University, which consisted of nursing theory and practical placements at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. I was able to complete this as I still worked as a healthcare assistant at the hospital and so had a wage coming in.”

After qualifying in May this year, Nicole secured a permanent nursing post in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s North East Surgery Centre’s Peri-operative Discharge Suite, commonly known as PODS, where patients arrive for their surgery and are either discharged from if they have day surgery, or are taken to a ward if they need to stay longer.

However, not one to give up on learning, Nicole decided to join the rotation to learn more.

“I loved my role in PODS”, Nicole explained.

“But I feel it is important for me to get as much experience as I can, so during rotation I will spend six months at a time on different wards and hopefully that will help broaden my knowledge and clinical skills.”

Karen Yarwood, manager in PODS, said: “Nicole started with me in September 2005 and I am extremely proud of her and what she has achieved.

“She is a good role model for anyone wishing to follow her pathway into nursing. Her enthusiasm and commitment to the profession has been evident throughout her training.

“Nicole is well liked by all the members of the team and has a very caring attitude towards the patients, relatives and other members of the multi-disciplinary team.

“I was very sorry to lose Nicole, but I do understand that so early in her career she feels that she needs to broaden her experience in different specialities.

“I look forward to observing her progress even further in her career and wish her all the very best.”

“I always see myself being involved with patients, as that is where my strengths are and what I love to do. I like to be an advocate for my patients, I feel very at home here in Gateshead and I love the people I work with.”